New passport application held up - Visitor Visa expires soon

Legal Visa & Residency
1

Hi everyone - how goes it?

Here is my situtation currently…

Have been working at a Buxiban for the last month or 2 in Taichung county.

I have been staying here under a 60 day visitor visa, which has been extended by 1 month already (cost the school 2000 NT)

They have been ‘doing the paperwork’ since I started work here, and went to lodge my ARC (?) application a few weeks ago.

Guess who had a passport with only 6 months left on it?

So - after a whirlwind trip to the Aussie consulate in Taipei (fantastic people - I was very surprised after the robots at the Taiwan embassy in Thailand), I lodged a new 10 year passport application and jumped on the deathtrap bus back to my home town.

Fast forward 10 days, and I call the embassy to check on the progress of my new passport. It turns out that they havent received the photos that I sent in seperately to my application. So, I have promised to send another 2 today via express post.

My problem is - the 1 month extension on my 60 day visitor visa expires next Monday (30th April)

Even if the embassy in Taipei can get my photos tomorrow and somehow issue a new passport in under 5 business days (Im dreaming here…), Im pretty sure that my boss wont be able to lodge and receive my ARC before the 30th of April.

So my questions are…

  1. Do you think they could extend my visitor visa for another month?
  2. Will I need to leave the country and do a visa run (expensive)
  3. How long does an ARC application take anyhow?

My boss has already received a permission to work letter or something… So that part of the application is all done, plus I did my health check last month too

Any help or advice gladly appreciated

Good day to you! :slight_smile:

2

I had a similar problem in the past. My passport got broken and thus invalid, close to my ARC expiry.
My so called embassy then issued a paper stating that they have a passport application under processing.

Administration here is quite illogical but flexible, so as long as this paper got some official stamps on it, it “should” work.
The police then processed the ARC application without problems; When they gave me the ARC they also required me to
turn the ARC in for a stamp on the back changing to the new passport number as soon as the new passport arrived.

So, I suggest you inquire whether they will accept this in your case, and if your embassy can provide such a document.

Cheers,
YingFan

3

Thanks YingFan - The Australian embassy in Taipei have been brilliant so far. They even stayed back late to accept my application because I was stuck in traffic :slight_smile:

Ill give them a call tomorrow to see if they can give me some paperwork to cover until I get my passport back - cheers!